Because New Hampshire’s weather is so variable, it’s hard to come out of New Hampshire and rise as an X Games motocross champion, said Jay Palmer, a Seabrook motocross racer and behind-the-scenes manager at MX 101, a motocross track in Epping.

However, there are local racers who have found success and are very passionate about the sport, whose season spans the end of March through September.

Palmer is one of them. He said the cross-country motorcycle sport is the ultimate combination of man and machine becoming one unit on the track. The sport involves fast racing, jumping, utmost concentration and the ability to adapt.

“The dirt is always moving and changing. You have to adapt to the conditions. … And that’s an element people like very much,” Palmer said.

Palmer became involved with the Epping track, established in 2009, with the aim of getting more serious racers to the area. Today, you’ll find up to 200 at the newly improved track on a weekend day, novices and advanced riders alike. Some, he said, have been riding for years; others gravitated to motocross because they purchased dirt bikes and wanted more places to ride them.

“They’re just people who love the ride. They can be as old as 55, or they can be as young as 9,” Palmer said. “But we are getting some serious racers there, and that was the goal when I took over the track. … Because if you get better riders to show up, everybody starts to ride better. … We had Jimmy Decotis, who rides for Honda, show up to a practice a couple weeks ago.”

Another local motocross aficionado is Tony LoRusso, a nationally ranked biker who recently relocated to New Hampshire from Connecticut and revamped the New Hampshire Motocross Park in Lempster. LoRusso has many New England Sports Committee Racing titles to his name. (Regionally, Palmer said, the serious races occur through NESC and New England Motocross.)

It’s a dangerous sport, but Palmer said once you’re hooked, you’re hooked.

“Every time a rider throws a leg over his bike, he’s at risk of getting injured,” he said. “But if they can get past that, what happens with a lot of people is they accept it’s very dangerous, but they love it so much, they’re willing to take that risk. I don’t fully understand the adrenaline. Your mind is very focused on what you’re doing on the bike. The bike is always moving around. It’s very fun.”